With 1 billion tweets posted every two days from more than 230 million active Twitter users, companies are working to find the best way to capitalize on the open conversation with customers.

Twitter itself generated $422.2 million during the first nine months of 2013. The platform contributed to $4.7 billion in U.S. social advertising revenues in 2012, according to a report by advertising research company BIA/Kelsey. That figure is forecasted to reach $11 billion in 2017. By some estimates, companies are now spending between $1,000 to $5,000 a month on social media marketing. But does it work?

Without the right voice, personality and professionals behind them, corporate tweets can easily get lost in the mix of marketing chatter, according to Chris Yates, owner of Huddle Productions, a video social media marketing firm based in Dallas. Because companies must pay employees or hire outside contractors to manage their Twitter accounts, campaigns that don’t gain traction hurt the bottom line as companies lose their marketing investment.

But when a campaign is successful, the payoff can be huge.

Nabisco’s Oreo and Procter & Gamble’s Old Spice Twitter accounts are among two of the best consumer brands on Twitter, with tweets that often go viral or are picked up by media outlets nationwide. The social media company featured the brands as examples of famous tweets during a roadshow surrounding its initial public stock offering. The brands regularly get hundreds if not thousands of retweets on a single post.

When the power went out during the Super Bowl, for example, Oreo tweeted: “Power Out? No Problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” That message was retweeted 15,882 times.

“A lot more brands are getting involved in this because community managers see a lot more ways to get visibility,” said Mike Merrill, founder of Social Media Club of Dallas. “It’s a very effective way to get digital savvy folks involved.”

The strategies help companies spread brand awareness and attract new customers.

According to a recent study done by Boston research firm Compete, a Kantar Media company, in conjunction with Twitter, people who were exposed to a tweet by a retailer were 5.3 percent more likely to visit the company’s website and 12 percent more likely to make a purchase when compared to an average Internet user.

“It’s absolutely crucial,” Yates said about companies crafting a strategy for their social media efforts. “If you’re not going to do that, you might as well not do it at all.”

So how are North Texas companies developing their Twitter strategies?

With a little bit of creativity and a lot of voice, 7-Eleven, AT&T, Southwest Airlines, Chili’s Grill & Bar, American Airlines, J.C. Penney, Frito-Lay and Pizza Hut are crafting a playbook filled with strategies to turn Twitter into a marketing win. Here is a closer look at six techniques they use to stay on top of their game.